9:1-4 – The day arrives. After all that had been done and the joy of chapter eight, the actual day for the struggle of the Jews had yet to be decided though things were increasingly in the favor of the Jews. The Jews had been authorized to defend themselves against anyone taking aggression against them… Continue reading Esther 9-10 – The Day of Reckoning and Rejoicing

3:1-6 – Haman…the Agagite. Whereas the last we read would have suggested that Mordecai should have been rewarded by the king, we find only the mention of another man who instead receives honors and acclaim from the king…and this man will seek for the destruction not only of Mordecai, but of all the Jews. Haman… Continue reading Esther 3-4 – A Time for Action

1:1-3 – The stage is set. According to Adele Berlin, chapter one “portrays the Persian court in all its decadent lavishness” and “sets the tone of the book” which is a “tone of excess, buffoonery, and bawdiness” (3). This would characterize Xerxes and Haman, but does not seem to accurately describe either Mordecai or Esther. … Continue reading Esther 1-2 – Parties That Bring Change

10:1 – The Time and General Content of the Vision. The third year of Cyrus king of Persia would place this vision in approximately 536-535BC. This would also suggest that the recently begun work on rebuilding the Temple of the LORD by the returning exiles under the supervision of Ezra had been stopped temporarily by… Continue reading Daniel 10 – Prepared for the Final Vision

The Covenant With Israel – Exodus-Deuteronomy Exodus: God with His People – Israel grew up as slaves in Egypt and Moses was raised up by the LORD to deliver God’s people from Egypt. God makes His presence known in the midst of His people in the desert and makes an everlasting covenant with them. (Exodus… Continue reading The Old Testament for Seventh Graders (in Four Weeks!) 3

Vision de Daniel à SuzeBy: Stephanus Garsia (11th Century) 8:1-2 – Daniel has a vision three years after the dream of chapter seven (approximately 550BC) while Belshazzar was still in Babylon (and his father, Nabonidus, still king of all Babylon). Perhaps the reason he repeats the “vision” three times is because it was so disturbing… Continue reading Daniel 8 – The Vision of the Ram and the Goat

This chapter is considered by most to be the most significant chapter of Daniel and also a key chapter of the Old Testament. There are some who have proposed that Daniel has borrowed from the ancient Near Eastern mythologies around him in this composition (such as the account of Adapa, Enuma Elish, or the Ugaritic… Continue reading Daniel 7 – Visions in the Night

3:1-7 – The image of gold. Theodotian and the LXX provide an interesting time note that is not included in the Aramaic text found in our Bibles. They actually state that it was Nebuchadnezzar’s 18th year when what follows happened and that would place the incident of the fiery furnace in the very year of… Continue reading Daniel 3 – The God Who Saves

<!–[if !mso]> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } <![endif]–> 47:1-6 – A trickle from the temple becomes a great river. The location that Ezekiel is shown may indicate where the “sea” was once kept in Solomon’s temple, but there is no mention of such a thing in this temple (1 Kings 7:23-26). While the directional descriptions are difficult it… Continue reading Ezekiel 47-48 – The River And The Land